Caught Off Guard
by anon9190
Summary: DHr. Hermione is getting the chance of a lifetime, there's one catch, his name is Draco Malfoy and the two of them have to embark on a top secret expedition... What happens when you're caught off guard and begin to fall in love?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Not my characters**

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**_Caught Off Guard_**

Chapter 1

She had studied for this moment her whole life. This was the reason why she spent almost all of her evenings in the school library. Why she made sure she got the best grades and became head girl of Hogwarts seventh year. There were only two spots available for the position. The only question she had in her mind was who the _other _person was going to be. She knew when a ministry owl delivered a letter to her. The only reason she opened it was because she wanted it to be official. But she had already repeated the words written a thousand times. It said:

_Ms. Hermione Granger_

_The Ministry of Magic, looks for young witches and wizards like you to fill these kinds of positions. The perfect applicant applies once in a blue moon, you, Ms. Granger are that perfect applicant we see no reason why we should deny you the position you applied for. We are sure that you know what the job entails, it is potentially dangerous but extremely rewarding. If you have forgotten the details of the trip we shall remind you below:_

_You have applied to embark on an expedition. A top secret one, you will leave immediately after you tell us whether you want to go through with the trip or not. Please do not feel as if you are forced to do this, we only want to send those who truly want this opportunity. Your task will be given to you when you come to the Ministry to officially accept the mission. Your partner will be assigned to you as well. You have forty-eight hours after you receive this letter to accept it in person at the Ministry of Magic. Usually we do not give tasks of such importance to novice, but you and your partner's talents can not be ignored. You will be informed of who your partner is when you come to accept. If you do not accept, do not come, we will fill the position with someone else. This letter will destroy itself after you are done reading it._

_Sincerely, _

_The Ministry of Magic, Department of Wizard Research_

Hermione was out of the door before the letter destroyed itself. She was lucky she lived so close to the Ministry or she would have died of anxiousness. She practically jumped over the secretary of the Department of Wizard Research's desk.

"Hi, my name is Hermione Granger I just got the acceptance letter and I wanted to accept!" she practically screamed it at the secretary.

"Congrats, Ms. Granger, my name is Cornelia Wipplesnapper; I'm the secretary, if you would please wait over there." She waved her hand towards the waiting area. "the other applicant is with, Mr. Sarvasi—He accepted too." She winked at her, "I think you'll like him…got the best smile I've ever seen."

Hermione laughed as she made her way over to the waiting area, this could be interesting…she wouldn't mind if he was handsome.

She heard rustling behind the door, she jumped up from the chair she couldn't wait to see who would be joining her. The door opened and out stepped a short, stout man with a bristly mustache. She smiled, "Hello, Mr. Sarvasi my name is Hermione—"

"Granger" someone drawled, "should have known."

She turned toward the voice, she knew it sounded familiar but she didn't want to think negative thoughts, she prayed silently to her self as she turned.

She saw the grey eyes first. How could she possibly think this was to good to be true?

"Hello, Draco."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Not my characters**

Chapter 2

She saw the grey eyes first. How could she possibly think this was too good to be true?

"Hello, Draco."

Hermione wasn't going to give into reality that easily, She said coldly "Mr. Sarvasi, is the other applicant in your office? Because I have been waiting to meet him." She turned to Draco

Draco smirked, "What Granger? Surprised that there is actually someone in the world whose smarter than you?"

"If I recall Draco, _I _was head girl because _I_ had the _best _grades, _you _were head boy because _you _were second to _me."_

Mr. Sarvasi laughed nervously, the tension in the room was almost tangible, " Well it seems you two have met before! Ms. Granger can I speak with you in my office?" He knew the longer he kept the two of them together the worse the situation would get

Hermione turned to Mr. Sarvasi, her mind was still trying to think of all the ways Draco _couldn't _be the other applicant. Of all the people in the world she would have almost anyone else, settle for almost any one else. She silently cursed herself for not making the great first impression that she had imagined in her head over and over again for the past three months. She turned to Mr. Sarvasi and smiled, "I would like that very much." She turned and glared at the back of Draco's blonde head as he walked over to the secretary and thanked her for her kindness, of course flashing a dazzling smile.

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Draco walked over to the secretary, and smiled widely "I just wanted to thank you for the hospitality."

Cornelia smiled, "Anytime Mr. Malfoy."

Draco leaned over her desk and got so close to her she could see the green specks of color in his eyes, "Is tonight at eight covered under that guarantee?"

"Mr. Malfoy I am a married woman. Now if you have any questions about the assignment given to you please call immediately"

Draco smiled, "How could I expect a beauty like you to be available? I was hopeful, well see you" He turned around and left.

Cornelia Wipplesnapper wasn't married, but she knew what would happen to her reputation if she was seen with Draco Malfoy. He was known as playboy to the entire wizarding world.

As Draco was walking back to his flat he couldn't help but think of how..."pretty? No, that's not the word for it" he thought to himself "—_beautiful _does her justice." He stopped walking—was he really calling _Hermione Granger _beautiful_? _

_"_But she was, she was beautiful" he thought to himself. He didn't remember her looking like that at Hogwarts and he had shared a common room with her for a whole year! How could he not have noticed that hair: smooth and brown, with little ringlets going down to the small of her back, "Wasn't her hair bushy?" he thought to himself. How could he not have noticed her eyes, they were so warm , like dark amber. How could he not have notice her perfectly structured her face was? Or how perfect her body looked under her jeans and t-shirt?

He tried to remember clearly...was he really that much of a prat seventh year? Okay well there was no denying that he was--but she was a mudblood whose feelings didn't matter.

He pushed the thought of her out of his mind...He had a date tonight

A/N: How do you like it so far?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Not My Characters**

Chapter 3

As Hermione followed Mr. Sarvasi into his office, she thought back seventh year as head girl, she was always arguing with Draco—that was normal, but one day Draco had gone too far:

_Hermione had had a __**very**__ bad day. The worst actually. Snape, being himself as usual called her a __mudblood__ in class. It wasn't the fact that he said it, that was bad, it was just that he didn't say it to __**her. **__He said to the Slytherins she shared class with. Everyone heard it and no one said anything about it except for a few grumbles from Harry and Ron. After that the Slytherins had come up with surprisingly creative ways to tell her what she was. Harry and Ron had tried to protect her as usual, but they could only do so much. First, they charmed the chalk to write MUDBLOOD in capital letters on the board in alternating colors of green and silver. Snape looked at it, smirked and then asked the class, "Who can tell be the deadliest potion in the world?" She was of course the first to raise her hand, Snape looked at her, challenging her to answer the way he __**knew **__she was. _

"_The deadliest potion in the world is called Ignatium, it clouds the mind and causes a man to forget his principles, his values, and himself." She paused, she wanted the moment to build, "However, it is said that if an ignorant man were to take it, he would become a man of the highest virtue…Professor would you like me to make you some?"_

_She heard audible gasps behind her, Snape smiled at her, "Fifty points from Gryffindor, for giving the incorrect answer." It was Hermione's turn to gasp. Snape smiled wider and turned to Draco, "Draco" he purred "What is the deadliest potion in the world?" Draco turned to Hermione, "The deadliest potion is that which is made from the blood of a wizard of impure blood. It is called, Pirmacia, it is rumored that a whiff of vapors can kill an army of a thousand men." Harry had had enough, "What the hell is going on here?! What kind of teacher do you think you are Snape! If you didn't try so hard to be such an arsehole maybe we would actually learn something!" By now Harry was at Snape's desk shouting in his face. Snape sat waiting patiently as if he knew he was wrong and was willing to take the consequences. When Harry was done he said in a cold voice, "How nice that you three stick together through everything! It would be unfair of me to separate the three of you and so you and your little entourage will serve detention instead of going to dinner tonight." Hermione groaned, she was head girl—this shouldn't be happening! When class was finally dismissed Hermione was near tears, she couldn't understand why Snape and Draco wouldn't leave her alone. Why was it their goal to make her feel like nothing? She decided that she would have to at least make it to her common room before she started bawling. She ran faster. When she was finally at the door she shouted the password and stumbled in already sobbing. She felt somebody staring at her, she looked up to see Draco with his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. Draco smirked at her and said to Goyle, "I told you they could cry, proved it well didn't I?" Hermione had had enough she jumped up and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Was that the point of today? Was it so you could prove a point? Well you won your fucking bet Draco! Does this make you feel so fucking great? I 've never done anything to you so why don't you just leave me the fuck alone uh? Why do you always have to take out your anger on me? I'm sorry that you father's an arse! I can't fix that and now that I think of it—I wouldn't. You deserve whatever treatment you get." It was a well known fact the Draco's father could get very angry very fast and always needed a person to take his anger out on, Draco was usually the closest to him. By now Hermione was crying again. After she was done, Draco stood up and looked at her with a look she hoped she would never have to see again, "You filthy mudblood bitch, I swear if you __**ever**__ mention my father again I'll kill you myself." With that he turned around and left, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione didn't know how long she stood there feeling like crap. After a while everything became numb just a blank feeling of nothingness. She made up her mind that Draco had exhausted any niceness she had tried so hard to show him in the past._

Hermione snapped back to reality. Mr. Sarvasi was asking her to sit. She smiled and sat down, "Mr. Sarvasi, I just want to say before we even have this conversation that I absolutely accept: I've been waiting for that owl for a long time now. I am absolutely committed to this one hundred percent."

Sarvasi smiled back at her, "That is music to my ears Ms. Granger, a note will be at your house when you go home, read it and memorize it.

Hermione hesitated; Draco had been in his office much longer than this, "Is that all?"

Sarvasi smiled, "Yes."

Hermione hesitated she didn't want to make a bad impression, "Err…Mr. Sarvasi?"

Sarvasi, who had already gone back to work looked up at her, he hadn't realized she was still there, "Yes, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione decided that it was now or never, "Well I noticed that Draco was in here a lot longer than I was, I mean I was waiting for at least thirty minutes, this meeting only lasted five. Is he more qualified or something?"

Mr. Sarvasi laughed, "No, Ms. Granger he is not more qualified just more unsure of his decisions. See you in a few days"

Hermione felt like an idiot, "Oh…well I'll see you" she smiled before turning away and making her way outside.

She thought back to that day in seventh year. Draco really _hated _her for no reason, he didn't even try to get to know her even a little bit. But she was happy she saw how _much _he hated her that day because after that they never spoke a word to each other and it was only _November_.

When she finally got home she remembered her assignment would be in her house. She looked on the kitchen table, there it was. It was small and white with the Ministry's emblem in the top left hand corner. She opened it, it was very short:

_Ms. Granger_

_On this Thursday come to the Ministry of Magic, ask the main secretary that you need to go to the roof. Bring this letter and Identification. Bring nothing with you. _

_Elion Sarvasi_

It was Tuesday. Hermione was practically jumping from excitement when she heard a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting company and Harry and Ron knew they could just apparate in. She walked to the door and opened it.

"Granger, can I speak to you?"

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Draco had tired to push Hermione Granger out of his mind, it wasn't possible, so he let himself think about her. He remembered back to seventh year, when they had a very _intense _argument. This ended in him threatening to kill her. She never spoke to him again; she would just pass him as if she had never seen him before in her life.

He had changed since then. His father was dead, killed by Voldemort for refusing to sacrifice his family to show his loyalty. That was the only thing that his father had ever done for them. Lucius had always treated him like a punching bag because he disagreed with Voldemort. When he died Draco was able to be who he wanted to be.

He remembered how mean to Granger he had been that day, calling her a mudblood constantly, only because his father told her too. He knew her address because the secretary had given the both of them the others information. He took a look at her address, it was three blocks from where he was. He still had time to talk to her before his date. He didn't want the trip to be constant arguing, they should at least be able to stand each other. He apparated to her front door, "was I always this nervous?" he thought to himself. He hesitated, and then knocked. He heard her footsteps coming toward the door, he looked down the hall he could still run—the door opened. He looked up to see Hermione—she really was beautiful, "Granger, can I speak to you?"

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A/N: Review! They make my day.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Not my characters**

Hermione knows about the job because the job position itself isn't top secret just the mission so she could have easily read or heard about it somewhere. :)

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Chapter 4

"Granger, can I speak to you?"

Hermione couldn't actually believe that _Malfoy _was at her door, not only that he was asking to speak to _her _and asking it politely. Hermione stared—then she thought back to seventh year, "Malfoy, what do you want? If you're here to make yourself feel better by making me feel like crap by orders of your father you can leave."

"No!" Draco said forcefully, "I don't take orders from my father any more—he died two years ago…"

For the second time that day Hermione felt like an idiot, "Oh…err, would you like to come in then?"

Draco shook is head, "No, I just wanted to tell you…I'm sorry for being…a prat seventh year—well actually all seven years. I just wanted to let you know that I only did that because of my father and I really don't care whether your blood is pure or not…you're a damn good witch and you deserve the job."

Hermione stared at him, and then she laughed, "I hope you aren't so thick that you think that you can reverse seven years in one minute! Draco looked at her surprised, "Look Granger I don't apologize…you should appreciate this while you can, I just want to make the trip about the mission not our petty past—understand?"

Hermione stopped laughing, he was actually serious and he _actually _seemed sorry, "Alright then, thanks for the apology and I hope we can focus on the mission instead of each other…is that all?"

"Yeah, that's all…thanks for listening." Draco wasn't used to someone else actually listening to him, the girls he met were just with him for the fame and his family had definitely never stopped to listen to him.

"Well, Goodnight then." Hermione closed the door and leaned against it. "Did that really just happen?" She thought to herself, "Did Draco Malfoy just apologize for seven years of torture?" Not that that made up for it—but it was a start.

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As Draco made his way down the hall he couldn't believe that she didn't hex first, ask questions later. He had said he wanted this trip to be about the mission, but whether she knew it or not he knew he wouldn't be able to focus around her…"why the hell did the other applicant have to be her of all people?" He thought to himself, "shouldn't Sarvasi have at least made sure they didn't have a past with me—a very unpleasant one?"

He wondered what it would be like if any of the girls he dated were as smart as Hermione Granger. Maybe he would get past the one night stand stage finally. Maybe he would be able to settle down or something nice like that…

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Hermione was definitely surprised by that visit, but after Malfoy left she found that for the first time while she was living alone she was lonely. She wondered what it would be like to have a real boyfriend. She had never actually had one. Viktor Krum definitely didn't count and neither did Ron, they though she lost her virginity to him—which she wasn't proud of—they didn't last very long. She had always wanted a family, but it never seemed as if she met the right guy. And if she did meet a nice guy she didn't see enough of him because she was always working.

She couldn't deny that Malfoy was handsome; she had known that seventh year. All the girls had been after him—they still were. She couldn't _really _blame them. Even though he ruined all that by being a git. She had definitely notice his wiry but muscular build from practicing quidditch. She had definitely noticed how beautifully grey his eyes were. She also noticed how perfectly sculptured his face was. But, how could she not have noticed _him_?

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A/N: Review!


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